OCMA Blog

Via the California Medical Association-

The unprecedentedly broad and diverse coalition working to defeat the trial lawyers’ MICRA lawsuit measure is now officially the “No On 46” campaign, following the assignment of proposition numbers to qualified ballot measures by the Secretary of State’s Office on Monday.

If approved by voters, Proposition 46 would increase health costs, reduce access to care and threaten patient privacy, all to make it easier and more profitable for lawyers to sue doctors and hospitals. In addition to increasing the overall number of medical lawsuits and the cost of health care across the board, Proposition 46 contains a number of unrelated provisions designed to mislead and deceive voters – including a little-discussed mandate relying on a massive expansion of a government-run prescription drug database, which third-party analysts say cannot be implemented as written and will leave personal medical information vulnerable to privacy breach.

For these reasons, health providers, education groups, labor unions, business organizations, working men and women, and community clinics have all announced their opposition to Proposition 46.

On Monday, two additional groups – the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) and the California NAACP – joined the “No On 46” campaign, pointing out the devastating effects it would have on California.

“This initiative will cost state and local governments hundreds of millions dollars and raise health costs for everyone,” said Robbie Hunter, President of the SBCTC. “That hurts job creation and will negatively impact California’s future.”

According to California’s independent Legislative Analyst, the proposed measure could increase state and local government health costs by “hundreds of millions of dollars annually.”

“This measure is terribly flawed and will reduce access to quality health care for underserved communities,” said Alice Huffman, President of the California NAACP. “At a time when we’re working hard to cover as many Californians as possible under the ACA, Proposition 46 takes us in the wrong direction. Proposition 46 will disproportionately hurt minority communities. It’s bad medicine for California.”

These two organizations join the growing list of California public entities and private organizations that have announced their formal opposition. For a complete list, please visit the campaign website, www.noon46.com.